


Blooming Hearts

by okemmelie



Category: The Guy Who Didn't Like Musicals - Team StarKid
Genre: Angst, Canon-Typical Stupidity, F/M, a lot of it is just charlotte and ted being idiots because that's what they are, i swear the ending is not angsty i am not killing anyone but
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-05-22
Updated: 2020-07-17
Packaged: 2021-03-02 22:33:45
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 2,464
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24324343
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/okemmelie/pseuds/okemmelie
Summary: There's a new guy at the office and while Charlotte wouldn't call herself charmed, she would call herself both intrigued and desperate.
Relationships: Charlotte/Sam (The Guy Who Didn't Like Musicals), Charlotte/Ted (The Guy Who Didn't Like Musicals)
Comments: 25
Kudos: 26





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> this was meant to be a short fic that fulfilled a prompt i got ages ago, but then i accidentally made an outline and it became too long and also it accidentally didn't answer the prompt, so uhhh. rip? also my outline is currently 13 chapters but outlines occasionally lie and i can't promise it won't end out longer or with a sequel

Charlotte always loved flowers.

She grew up in a tiny apartment in the middle of a big city and her parents couldn’t keep plants alive to save their lives, but their next-door neighbor was an old lady who adored Charlotte very much, and her apartment was filled with flowers. She’d hand Charlotte flowers if they met in the hallway or on the staircase and Charlotte would give her a big smile, then run home to show it off to her parents. When Charlotte grew a little older, the lady would trust Charlotte with the key to her apartment whenever she visited family and Charlotte would come water every single one of her flowers. Those were some of the best days of Charlotte’s childhood.

Then, when Charlotte went to college, she decided that no one could stop her from having flowers in her dorm room. And since she couldn’t get a cat, she went with flowers. Almost every time she passed a florist, she’d come home with a new plant, and she’d love and care for it with all her being.

Charlotte always loved flowers, so when a young man from the police academy right next to the diner she and her friends frequented gave her a single rose and asked her on a date, she said yes. And when he bought her a whole bouquet and handed it to her on their date, she knew he’d be the man she’d marry.

Sam was a charming young man. He was two years older than her, but he was kind to all her friends and he was kinder to her. After a month of bringing her flowers every date, he asked her to be his girlfriend and Charlotte said yes. And after a year of bringing her flowers just before the last bouquet he’d given her wilted, he asked her to marry him.

Charlotte said yes.

Their wedding was nothing short of a fairytale. While the lilies of the valley and fairy lights everywhere was a nice sight, all of it faded in comparison to Sam –  _ her  _ Sam – in his tux, with his wedding ring on his finger and with her in his arms.

They moved in together and while Sam did make her cut down on the percentage of surface area covered in flowers a little bit to make room for his things as well, their new living situation opened up for Charlotte to have a cat (and seven months later, another one).

She had it all. Sam, Frumpkin, Professor Thaddeus and a fresh bouquet of flowers on the kitchen table each week (which Sam  _ really  _ didn’t have to do but he did because he loved her and Charlotte loved him even more for it). Charlotte truly couldn’t ask for something more or something better. She had it all and she was happy.

Nothing could go wrong and she was sure of it.

Not everyone is secure in their relationship, but Charlotte is secure in hers. Sam cares about her and she knows he does. She cares about him too. So when her boss hires a younger, fresh-out-of-college, handsome but kind of a douchebag about it man, she confidently reaches a hand out for him to shake after he gives her a lookover. “Welcome to CCRP Technical. You’re the new guy, aren’t you?”

He takes her hand, but he doesn’t shake it. “Sure am.” He kisses it instead. “Name’s Ted. And what might yours be, beautiful?”

Not only can she feel him eyeing her again, she can see it as well. But she doesn’t blush and she calmly takes her hand back. “I’m Charlotte.”

“Charmed, I’m sure.” There’s a sly smile on Ted’s lips as he winks at her and Charlotte’s sure he’s not the kind of man one can trust.

She’s also certain this conversation is not one she cares to continue. She places her hand, the one with the wedding ring, just over her chest and gently fidgets with the ring until he notices. Unsurprisingly, it doesn’t take long. He nods and takes a respectful step back, but doesn’t leave before winking at her.

Sam’s bought a fresh bouquet of flowers. It stands between them on the kitchen table when she gets home. Pink roses. She tells him about the new employee and he tells her about an arrest he had to make. Then he kisses her over the table and goes to watch television while she cooks. He kisses her again before he goes to do the dishes and she goes to water their many, many plants.


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i am legally obliged to tell you guys that i love paul because he's mentioned in this chapter. sorry, i don't make the rules, i just follow them /:

Charlotte isn’t exactly happy to be invited to a networking event by Mr. Davidson. It’s two states over, which means they’re staying for a night (and that in turn means that Charlotte won’t be home with Sam, their cats or her flowers). She’s not much of a traveller; staying at home is much more comfortable in her opinion.

But it doesn’t matter, not to Mr. Davidson, so Charlotte ends up going. As does Melissa and that new guy, Ted (sure, he’s not as new anymore, but it doesn’t matter; they haven’t had anyone else after him so he’s still new). She asks if please, please,  _ please _ , can’t Paul or Bill go instead, but Paul has some report deadline coming up and besides, gender diversity is important.

At least they’re not driving, thank God, and at least both Melissa and Ted respect Charlotte’s choice to put in earphones while on the plane enough not to bother her.

The event is fairly boring, in Charlotte’s opinion, but she politely engages in conversation and strolls the different stalls to kill time while also looking engaged.

She eventually makes her way towards the back of the room where she can be people-free for a moment; Melissa seems to be handling the whole networking thing a whole lot better than Charlotte would be able to anyway, so she figures it’s fine to leave her to it.

It’s a bad move, because not ten minutes later, she’s joined by Ted of all people. “Ugh, what are you doing here?”

“Happy to see you too,” he greets. He then rolls his eyes at her, but it somehow looks more smug than annoyed. Maybe it’s because of that smirk he never seems to drop around her.

She doesn’t want to drop to his level. Okay, sure, she’s not sure what exactly his level is, but she knows it’s something different than hers. She’s better than that, kinder than that. So after a moment of standing with him in silence, she sighs and turns her whole body to face him with a new (and almost real) smile on her lips. “Are you enjoying yourself?”

He winks. Of course he winks. God, she hates that he winks. “Absolutely am,” he says and she hates that she’s trying to be nice, because he’s eyeing her again and it’s frustrating. She’s a married woman and he doesn’t seem to care. “Kind of hard not to, in this company. What about you? Having fun moping around by yourself?”

“I’m not moping around by myself,” she says, perhaps a bit too quickly because it makes his smirk widen even further. How does he manage to be this annoying without as much as a word. “Shut up,” she tells him before he has a chance to comment on it (she can see him opening his mouth about to say something and she knows she’s moping around by herself; she certainly doesn't need him to tell her).

“I didn’t say anything.”

“But you were going to.”

At this he just shrugs. She doesn’t know if it’s a victory but she’ll take it as such. The fact that he doesn’t say anything for a while is definitely a victory. Then she makes a mistake. She fiddles with her wedding ring. That makes him speak up. “So. How’re things with the husband?”

“They’re great.” It’s maybe a bit of an overstatement. They’re fine. He’s busy, she’s busy. But relationships are hard from time to time; as is marriages. They’re just going through a slightly tougher period that’ll undoubtedly end up with them and their relationship coming out stronger in the other end. “What about you? Are you in a relationship?”

She doesn’t know why she’s asking. She shouldn’t be, because she doesn’t care. “Wouldn’t you like to know?”

“Yes, that’s why I asked.” 

He opens his mouth, ready to answer or at least say  _ something  _ to her, but he’s cut off by Melissa calling his name. “Be a darling and hold that thought.” When Ted winks at her, she knows for sure that asking was a mistake, but she’s left alone to wonder why he has to be so difficult about everything as he runs off to Melissa.

She supposes it’s for the better. She’s here to mope around by herself after all, is she not? Still, she can’t help but to throw a quick glance in Ted’s direction as he catches up to Melissa and greets her with a kiss on the cheek.

Maybe they’re a thing?

Charlotte always loved flowers.

She loves the smell, she loves the look, she loves looking up the meaning behind each and everyone of them. She loves taking care of them, too. She loves how secure they’d made her feel. In herself, in her relationship, in everything.

Charlotte always loved flowers and so, when she comes home to the ones in the vase on the kitchen table, wilted, it hurts.


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> having a consistent upload schedule? don't know her

She looks beautiful.

Charlotte doesn’t have a lot of confidence, but standing in her bathroom in a red dress she hasn't been able to comfortably fit into for years but now does, she looks beautiful. Tugging the poinsettia behind her ear, she looks beautiful. Smiling, she looks beautiful.

Sure, the poinsettias are her purchase, not Sam’s, and that’s not exactly the best of signs, but it’s Christmas time and he’s busy and there’s probably a good explanation for everything. Besides, she hasn’t even told him how sad it makes her that he no longer  _ always  _ buys new flowers. It’s not his fault.

She takes a deep breath. Then she steps out of the bathroom and flashes a wide smile at her husband.

He smiles back and Charlotte feels all her worries wash away, as Sam walks up to her, jaw hanging slightly open. “Charlotte, baby,” he starts before putting his hands on her hips. “You look beautiful.”

“Thank you,” she giggles as she gets on her toes to press a kiss to his lips. He kisses her back and pushes her against the door and it’s nice. It’s been awhile since Sam’s kissed her like this. It’s over way earlier than she’d like, but at least she can still feel his breath against her lips. “You look beautiful as well.”

He winks at her. Then he lets her go. “What’s the occasion?”

_ What’s the occasion? _ She raises an eyebrow. “CCRP’s annual Christmas party? The one I’m going to tonight? The one  _ you’re  _ going to tonight?”

Sam blinks. “Oh. Yeah, sorry babe. I have poker with the boys tonight. But you have fun, alright?” He kisses her again, quickly this time, and that’s the end of that. He walks into the bathroom and she’s left standing in their hallway processing by herself until she manages to shake it off. Then she leaves for the company party.

The event is nothing special. It’s pretty much the exact same deal as last year, except this time there’s no Sam. There’s an empty stop next to her at the table with a name card reading his name, but there’s no Sam.

She supposes he has a replacement. Not a good one, but a replacement. Opposite him sits Ted and sometimes when she blinks, she’s transported back to the first year she brought Sam along for the Christmas party.

Ted’s clearly drunk, much like Sam was. His cheeks are red and he whispers compliments to her from across the table. Compliments she turns down because they’re in public. And because she’s not her Sam. He’s Ted. Annoying, oh so annoying, Ted. Her coworker. Who really shouldn’t be hitting on her. Which she tells him. Of course she does.

“Would you like a drink, darling?” He asks, half leaned over the table and with an eyebrow raised in a way that would be charming if he was Sam – but he isn’t, so it’s just annoying.

She’s about to say no, but then she realizes that by saying yes she gets two things: She gets him to leave, even if it’s just for a short while,  _ and _ she gets a drink without having to get up. “You know what? Sure. Also stop calling me darling.”

“Sure thing, baby.”

She shoots him a look that  _ definitely _ would kill, if only looks were able to. It only leads to him winking before he finally leaves the table.

It doesn’t take too long before he returns and when he does, he sits in Sam’s seat rather than his own. She’s about to express her annoyance, but instead she takes a sip of her drink and it’s really really good, so she supposes she can entertain him for a while.

The night goes on and on, and suddenly Charlotte finds herself laughing and having fun with this not as annoying as originally presumed Ted. And sure, he flirts and makes innuendos, but she decides to be flattered rather than annoyed.

It’s not that the party’s over, but Charlotte starts feeling overwhelmed by all the attention she’s getting from him. She can’t stop wishing things with Sam were this easy, lightheaded and fun – and that’s a dangerous wish. “Well, this has been unexpectedly pleasant, but I think I’ll be making my leave.”

Ted puts a hand on top of hers, then leans in to whisper something in her ear. “Come home with me.”

She smiles as she shakes her head and gets up. “Goodnight Ted.” She puts on her jacket and is already out the door before she feels a tap on the shoulder. She turns around and–

It’s Ted. Of course it’s Ted. “I’m so sorry, that was incredibly inconsiderate of me and not at all cool. You’re a married woman and I should not be pushing it. I just– I don’t know, I had a really good night with you and I got carried away. This is not a very good apology. I’m sorry. I– have this?”

He holds out a flower for her. She recognizes it from the table, but it does make her smile because it’s not wilting. It’s a new, fresh flower and it’s beautiful. It’s a cute gesture. And Ted looks kind of cute under the moonlight.

She kisses him and he kisses her back. Then she lets him take her home.


End file.
